I was on my way back from a job site and the transmission locked me out at a stop light. I could put it into neutral and it would go into reverse with a bit of grinding and a bunch of nasty clunking sounds. I pushed it to the side of the road and bled the clutch to no avail. It would shift into all gears easily with the car off, so I poured some gear oil around the shifter ball and shifted it around a bit. Putting it into first and starting the car with the clutch disengaged made a bit of a clunking noise, but it would shift after that.



I didn't have any grinding or lock outs the entire 100ish mile trip home. I even stopped to get gas and hit a ton of stop lights. Not a bit of grinding on any gear or resistance to me shifting. I'm sure all of my tower and shifter seals/bushings are toast, so I think I might be losing the gear oil in my shift tower on a regular basis...



I also get a periodic rattling/clanking noise at idle. Sounds like it's coming out of the shift tower. Most of the time it only occurs with the transmission shifted into a gear and the clutch disengaged. Other times it just rattles nonstop whether I'm in gear or not. Tossing gear oil into the tower seems to shut it up...

sounds like worn out clutch

pilot bearing ?

id say the clutch itself. from what you stated it sounds like the clutch plate is worn down and not engaging.

Most definitely your clutch

sounds like broken clutch... any updates?

Re: Transmission Locking Me Out
 

Was going to try rebuilding my master/slave on the wild chance it might be hydraulic related. The kit(s) I got from Advance don't seem to fit either unit. The piston in my master seems to black metal and has a front as well as rear o-ring seal. The replacement only has a front seal and seems to have holes on the end of the piston. It also has a metal washer that my previous kit did not. The replacement slave piston seems to be too small for my old unit...fluid just leaks around it and the spring seems to be a different length/diameter...

Every kit I can find online is the same way with only one seal ring. Makes me wonder if it even belongs on my car...stupid parts houses are always trying to sell me Cougar XR7 parts or a 'replacement oxygen sensor'...

Tried to use the 'replacement' piston in my unit, but it would only move fluid around in the reservoir...not a drop out of the line.

The clutch pedal has never been overly stiff (as compared to the few other stick vehicles I've driven in my life) and it has to travel about 1/3 of the way before it starts to move the master piston. From there it travels all the way to the floor without much resistance. I had my wife hold the pedal down to verify it moves the transmission fork, but no idea how far it should move it...

I think I'm going to order a 'new' (not rebuilt) master and slave along with a replacement hard and slave line from mazdatrix just to make sure something isn't wonky.

Looking through the paperwork in my glovebox (which is everything from the window stickers in 1984 to now) I managed to figure out I currently have 49,000 miles on the rebuilt engine and new clutch kit. Doesn't seem like it should be dead yet...but what do I know.

As far as clutch kits go is the EXEDY Part # 10025 a good one to go with? That seems to be the model most rotary specific places stock, but I see quite a few other brands online...all of which seem to be identical.

Re: Transmission Locking Me Out
 

sounds hydraulics related. If the clutch was worn down, it wouldn't engage, but since you are getting some grinding and clacking it sounds like the clutch is already engaged. I am not sure if the clutch pedal has an engagement point adjustment, but thats something to check also.

As for the rattling sound, is this at idle while stopped or moving?

Re: Transmission Locking Me Out
 

I get a metal on metal grinding noise at idle. I can have the clutch on the floor, or have it neutral and it's still there. It also squalls from time to time almost like a belt slipping...only I hear it coming from the transmission.

It's hard to tell if I'm getting noise while driving. Can't really hear anything over the engine, road noise, etc.

Re: Transmission Locking Me Out
 

you may just need to bleed your clutch hydraulics. Try that before you spend the money on the new master and slave.

Its normal to get some clacking at idle when in neutral. Its your flywheel spinning and is especially pronounced if its a lightweight flywheel. It will be louder with the clutch engaged, because both the clutch and flywheel are spinning in that case. If you kick the clutch in and it doesn't change, then it sounds like its something else. Not sure what it would be in that case. I would consider driveshaft a possibility, but you should look that up.